19:04 PDT 18/03/2021
by
Abid Rahman
Boosted by strong Yeezy sneaker sales and predicted revenue from the upcoming Yeezy Gap line, the rapper-dragon clothing magnate is becoming the richest black person in America – although Forbes disputes the figures.
Kanye West’s net worth has reportedly risen to $ 6.6 billion, a figure that would make the rapper fashion mogul the richest black person in America – although the estimate has caused some debate.
In a story published Thursday, Bloomberg quoted a UBS report that calculates the bulk of West’s wealth based on the emerging value of its Yeezy model line, which has an existing agreement with German sports giant Adidas, and a highly anticipated collection with the normal pillars Gap.
Yeezy, who is a favorite of accelerator collectors and the fashion press, is now worth between $ 3.2 and 4.7 billion, mainly due to the brand’s deal with German sports giant Adidas. The Yeezy-Gap deal, in which a collection will be released later this summer, is expected to be worth more than $ 970 million. West is the sole owner of the Yeezy brand.
The rest of the rapper’s wealth, $ 1.7 billion, comes from his significant investment in Kim Kardashian, the ex-wife’s Skims uniform, and he has $ 122 million in cash and stock and $ 110 million from his music catalog. .
If we take the $ 6.6 billion figure, the 43-year-old West is now richer than the founder of Vista Equity Partners, Robert Smith, David Steward, Oprah Winfrey and Michael Jordan, and becomes the richest black person in America.
Hours after the Bloomberg story however Forbes, a publication synonymous with tracing the wealth of the super-rich, pushed back the figure of $ 6.6 billion. In a blog post, Forbes said that the Bloomberg figure was “not true, based on our calculations” and that “Forbes estimates that he is worth less than a third of that, or $ 1.8 billion. ‘
“The Bloomberg story mentions a UBS report on his businesses – same document Forbes saw earlier this month, ” Forbes se Madeline Berg writes. “The bank has made a number of assumptions based on the projected future earnings, particularly for Yeezy Gap, which has not even been launched yet. Bank documents like these are known for painting future valuations with the best possible scenario.”
She added: ‘Forbes‘much more grounded numbers are based on the old-fashioned idea of current income – not theoretical future expectations. Yeezy Gap brought no revenue, let alone any profit. ‘
Even at Forbes se much lower estimated, West’s stratospheric wealth is far removed from the lows of 2016, when he revealed he owed $ 53 million and asked Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg for $ 1 billion to invest in his ideas.